“Competing with Cupertino and a cult-like consumer following is a difficult task for any competitor.” Wedbush Daniel Ives told Fortune.
From Tuesday’s Global Smartphone Tracker:

Commenting on the findings, Counterpoint Research Analyst, Satyajit Sinha, said, “Apple Watch shipments grew a solid 22% YoY in 2018. Apple Watch Series 4 was the star performer. It sold 11.5 million units during 2018, making it the best-selling model for the year. We believe its success was due to its focus on health-related features like ECG and fall detection. Further, it speaks volumes of how far Apple has come with Apple Watch as a meaningful health device…
“The overall smartwatch segment is going through a phase of evolution of cellular capabilities, which can make it a true standalone wearable device. Players like Apple, imoo, Samsung, Huawei, Ticwatch, and other kids watch brands were the early adopters. However, Apple and imoo cellular smartwatch contributed to 13% and 10% of 2018 shipments, respectively.”
My take: Apple and the wannabes.
Where does the number 13% come from? The chart shows 38% for Apple!
#1 Apple Watch Series 4 (current edition)
#2 Apple Watch Series 3 (one-year-old edition)
#3 Fitbit Versa (current edition)
#4 imoo Z3 (current edition)
#5 Apple Watch Series 2 (two-year-old edition).
What does it say about the competition when a two-year-old Apple Watch outsells the next 15 competitors.
Captions added.
What does that mean? That means that Google is out of the game for the next smaller form factor, wearables. Apple can outspend (invest) to widen their technology lead in wearables.with positive ROI.
Folk fast are realizing that the Apple Watch is the Gateway into the Apple ecosystem.